Prayer

Week 48, Thursday
Ellen Olford
 
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And He who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will. Romans 8:26-27

Praying in the Spirit and the Spirit praying on our behalf is a great mystery in the Christian’s life. The heavenly Father loves to hear our hearts.

As we cry out to God in our weakness, the Holy Spirit helps us pray. He is always petitioning for us. Because the Holy Spirit knows our needs, the Father knows our needs and meets them according to His good will. What an amazing comfort!

There are times I do not know how to pray and I do not know what to say to the Lord. Yet, the Spirit knows my own heart. In trust, I can lift my silent prayers to God. He will lead me through the good and difficult times.

The Holy Spirit has often used Annie Johnson Flint’s poem “The Red Sea Place” as a comfort in my prayer time. The first two stanzas speak of the harsh reality of coming to a Red Sea place in your life, where it seems there’s no way out. But God will lead you through. Just trust in Him and His Spirit. Read here the final stanza of this beloved poem:

In the morning watch, ’neath the lifted cloud,

You shall see but the Lord alone,

When He leads you on from the place of the sea

To a land that you have not known;

And your fears shall pass as your foes have passed,

You shall sing His praise in a better place,

A place that His hand has made.[i]

Father, I thank You for the precious ministry of the Holy Spirit. Thank You that He helps me pray when I am weak. Amen.

 

[i] L. B. Cowman, Streams in the Desert (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1999), 248–249.

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